She started singing in the church choir when she was 4 years old and always thought she would like to be a performer. Kentucky native Cheryl Hatmaker attended high school at Lexington Christian and East Jessamine. Her family’s vacation spot was always the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area in Tennessee.
“We would go every other month for a weekend. That just instilled a love for that place in me,” she said. “We would go to the (Dolly Parton’s) Stampede and I would see the girls getting customers in southern belle dresses. That’s what I wanted to do.”
Seventeen year ago she was attending college in Knoxville but still had the itch to perform. She went back to the Stampede to apply for a job but the show was not hiring performers. Instead, she took a job at the show as a waitress.
“I was there three weeks and then got pulled into the show,” said Hatmaker. “I was so happy.”
She eventually moved back to Kentucky, finished college and then returned to the Pigeon Forge area about six years ago. Now she’s a performing artist at Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Feud, a show I am going to see again Monday night.
“I am a singer and also dance. I never considered myself an actress. This town is full of entertainers and performers,” Hatmaker said.
She had worked at The Grand Majestic Theater in the Soul of Motown show and also had performed at the Biblical Times Theater along with Dolly Parton’s Celebration Show.
She had friends working at Hatfield & McCoy who told her the show needed performers. The general manager told her she would be a “good fit” and she started work about a year ago and learned two characters — one in the McCoy family, one in the Hatfield family.
“I had been there about six months when everybody said I should go for Ma (McCoy). Half the cast is in their early 20’s. I am now 36. I said, ‘Guys I am not an actor. That part has tons of lines and I have not done that before,'” Hatmaker said.
She agreed to try the part, learned the lines, did one run-through with the cast and was told she was to play the part the next day.
“I put on a grey wig and got to shoot a gun,” she laughed and said.
She never knows exactly what part she will play in the show — and some days there are four shows in one day —until she comes to work and sees what part has been assigned.
“I like it because every day can be different,” Hatmaker said. “Ma still sings. She does a love song with Pa (Hatfield). “
When she did her own gigs in Kentucky, she used to hire Bruce Jones to play for her. She talked him into moving to Tennessee and now he’s a “swing” Pa at the show and they will have the Ma and Pa roles in the same show.
“That’s been kind of fun,” she said.
Hatmaker grew up a University of Kentucky sports fan and that has not changed even after her move to Tennessee. Her husband was born and raised in Tennessee and she says him and his family members are Tennessee fans but he’s a Duke basketball fan and Ohio State football fan.
“Our household is really fun sometimes,” she said. “But our daughter is Kentucky all the way.”
At the dinner show, she just enjoys interacting with everyone.
“I am a people person. I love kids on the front row and getting to interact with them,” Hatmaker said. “Interaction with the audience is a big deal for me.
“You have to love what we are doing. Some days at peak times you are there from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. But you do it because you love it and I love the show and people I work with. This is such a great place to live and work.”
Hatmaker often has friends, including those in Kentucky, make the drive to Tennessee to see the show.
“At least once or twice a month I will get a message on Facebook from somebody I have not talked to for a while asking about tickets,” Hatmaker said. “But I am always happy when people reach out and want to come to the show. I love being part of a show that people like so much.”
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For more information on the show, go to https://hatfieldmccoydinnerfeud.com/.
2 Responses
I’m a big fan of her. I wish her the best of luck.
She was terrific in the show